“We are doing everything we can to avoid naked layoffs.” A Ghent city councilor made it clear on Friday that quite a bit was at stake in the city of Artevelde. The city council had met in the NTGent building for an extremely difficult round of cost-cutting. In total, Mayor Mathias De Clercq (Open Vld) and his councilors had to raise 26.5 million euros. It worked out in the end, but it wasn’t an easy delivery.
High inflation in particular is playing tricks on the city. Over the past year, the wages of city employees, more than 6,000 employees, have been indexed several times. Some overshoots of the index are again expected for next year. In addition, high energy prices weigh on us. For example, the city has about four hundred buildings, which are not always well insulated.
No reservations
Ghent itself is no exception. “At the moment, all local authorities are at a loss,” says Nathalie Debast of the Association of Flemish Towns and Municipalities (VVSG). “That’s why the temperature in the pool or other buildings is lowered here and there.”
The main problem is that Ghent has accumulated insufficient financial reserves in the past. The philosophy behind this was that every penny immediately goes back to the people of Ghent. But this approach is now tearing the city apart. “At the last budget year, the board was proud of a reserve of 2.6 million euros. Meanwhile, Antwerp had a reserve of 60 million euros,” says N-VA party leader Anneleen Van Bossuyt.
Already last summer, 81 million euros had been scraped together with difficulty. For example, 250 city employees who have retired have not been replaced. At the same time, the withholding tax on real estate was increased in exchange for a limited reduction in personal income tax. Parking in the city center has become more expensive. The mobile city counter, which ran through various neighborhoods, was also abolished. This is how the people of Ghent are gradually starting to feel about savings.
The shadow of 2024
While the new savings plan will only be unveiled on Wednesday, it was clear in advance that most of Open Vld, Groen, Vooruit and CD&V needed to get creative. It could be heard in the corridors that the managers of the municipal services had been asked to process savings within their competence. There have also been cuts to the city council. For example, sometimes there would only be two evening meetings instead of three.
Unsurprisingly, the conversations didn’t go so smoothly. The 2024 elections have long hung like a dark cloud over Ghent’s city council. The Liberals and Socialists have announced plans to form a city list together, while the Socialists were still in the cartel with the Greens at the last election. As a result, the parties hardly want to give each other anything.
